Touch (2015)

Director: Christopher Houghton, 90 minutes, English

Cast: Leeanna Walsman, Matt Day, Onor Nottle and Greg Hattonhh

Opening the Manchester International Film Festival is Touch, a movie that will rock you. As soon as the movie opens the mystery begins. Almost like a Murder She Wrote flick you are trying to guess who the suspect or victim is depending on how they weave their tale. It was slow but encapsulating. Everyone has different methods of protecting the ones that they love. Her technique is unorthodox and questioned throughout. A woman on the run with her daughter after an act performed so unspeakable and strange, you can hardly imagine it possible. Desperate women do desperate things.

Incredible performances by virtually unknown actors, especially Nottle who steals the show as the daughter Stephanie. Both Walsman and Day were intense and dark, exactly what the film required.

Most popular movies from Australia possibly comprise of Muriel’s Wedding. The independent work to come out of there is something to keep an eye on, with directors such as Houghhton, sourcing such talent to make a picture with a miniscule budget. Aussie movies often include their magnificent vast landscapes, deserts and picturesque views, this film had that wonderful scenery and a beautiful story to match.

Touch is a film developed in a film lab initiative and shot in just 5 weeks, with a budget of £300,000. In a nutshell, albeit all originality is dead in film, with an age old story told x played with it to a degree of capsulation and devotion to the story. I was gripped, confused as much as enticed. It was bold, as it took its time to develop – no more so than any story, each part was a stage of a sequence. I thought it was gritty, disgusting, dirty, sad and sombre. A film which I’d recommended.